(Closed) Cutting out soda to help with weightloss – has it worked for you???

I am the LAST person who would want to drop soda all together, but a few days ago, I decided to just go for it. Normally I would have fountain coke like everyday and sometimes a can of Mountain Dew too.

I was just wondering if this has worked for anyone else? This is only my 4th day, and yes I’m having head aches and it sucks, but I feel so determined. My short term goal is to make it last until my birthday in 3 weeks. I figured by then, I would probably just keep going with it anyway because the habit would have been broken.

Also, what is some good stuff to drink to maybe make these headaches go away!? Im not a huge fan of tea but If you have recommendations, I will take them!

It hasn’t helped me lose weight, no, but I don’t have a belly pouch now that I’ve cut it out (no bloating, etc.). I don’t know what to tell you to drink to make headaches go away, but Aleve is pretty good for headaches in general…

I am trying to cut back on the soda for other reasons. I don’t drink regular soda because they have so many calories in them. For the headaches, I would try taking some Advil since it has caffeine in it so it can help with the withdrawal.

Ok, I’m going to get slammed by fitness experts for saying this, but I think for me dropping soda made me gain weight. I always drank soda with my meals and I think the carbonation kept me full which kept me from eating as much–so when I started drinking water instead, I started eating more and I gained weight. What I ended up doing was switching to sparking water so I stayed full but without all the calories of soda. If sparking water is too bland, try mixing it with a splash of juice. Good luck!

Yes! Even for someone that, say, drank only one can of soda a day, replacing that with water, cuts out more than 1,000 calories a week. I took over the counter painkillers for the headaches. The withdrawal headaches are bad at first, but they go away after a few days. It’s worth it! Hang in there!!

Cutting out soda did help me in the past but I’m addicted to that fizzy goodness so it didn’t last long. I don’t know how much weight I lost (scales terrify me) but I know my clothes definitely fit better and, were at one point, too big.

I think results really depend on how much soda you drink. I was like a 4-5 cans a day’er so when I cut back to nothing, I saw results. If we’re talking like 1-2 cans a day, I don’t know if it would have much of an impact. Can’t hurt though!

@ebet24: If you like carbonation, you should trying drink fizzy water. I’m addicted to LaCroix. I remember my parents drinking when I was young and thinking that they were nuts for liking it. Now as an adult, I love it. I drink about 1-2 cans of soda a day if that.

If you drink regular soda and you cut back, you will definately lose some weight. It won’t be much, but it will be noticeable over time. If you drink diet, you won’t see that much of a difference. I have over the last couple of weeks dropped my soda consumption by about 99%, added cardio and strength trainning, and started eating smarter/healthier. I have lost 3 to 4 pounds depending on what scale I use. Your best bet is to start counting your calories and nutrients, fat, etc. that you are taking in. I use SparkPeople.com to track my exercise and diet and it is keeping me on task, for the most part. Fridays are my cheat days and I also add my cheats to the tracker and then stay on task for the rest of the week. Also, if you eat a lot of carbs, they will make you have a bloated stomach, so I suggest cutting those to the basics, if you can. You will definately notice a difference.

EDIT: I have also increased the amount of water that I drink each day and that is helping too. I am now used to drinking straight water, but if you can’t get used to it, they sell flavor drops at the grocery store that you can use for extra flavor. The containers are small, so you can carry them in your purse or whatever and use them whenever you need to.

@brox: I drink that too! It’s soooo good. It’s nice just to have a little flavor.

@misskarianne: I’m usually an iced tea/water drinker. When I was a teenager I drank some soda but I always found it upset my stomach. It might be because I have food allergies but I feel much better when I don’t drink it. My stomach doesn’t feel bloated. However, when I do crave one I love Virgil’s Real Cola. It’s all natural and amazingly tasty.

It’s simple. Consume less calories, lose weight. Consume the same amount of calories, stay the same weight. Soda is definitely a major source or calories in your diet if you’re drinking it every day. If you cut it out and don’t replace it with more calories you should lose weight. Drink LOTS of water (it will probably have to be more than the amount of soda you’re replacing) and be sure to watch your eating portions.

I cut out pop in Jan 2010. I had caffeine withdrawals for a good 2 months. I was drinking basically pop are all day (5+ cans/day). I went straight to water and only water to replace pop. After a month I felt better in general (not as tired). When I tried to drink a sip of pop after about 6 months without the pop tasted horrible! Now I drink a bit of sprite or root beer when I go out to a place that doesn’t have water/tea but pop still tastes off to me and I can’t finish a glass of it.

I lost about 15 pounds after stopping pop but then again it was the ONLY thing I was drinking before.

Sadly now I’m addicted to coffee but at least I’m not drinking straight sugar.